Return to the Innocence
By Glow60
As always thank you for your Reviews, Favorites and Followings.
Here is the next chapter I hope you like.
Chapter 11
Down in the Valley…
It was just a few minutes before nightfall and the moon was already starting to peek just above the mountaintop. Gibbs watched as three huge griffins landed in the field not too far from where they were standing. He saw Marqui mount one of creatures and then turn to look at him with disapproval eyes and he knew why. Earlier Gibbs had overheard the village leader telling Tac that the human boy should stay behind because it was too dangerous. Tac shook his head and told Marqui that his child was coming no matter what. He was glad his purple friend had left no room for any argument about him coming with them. There was no way he was going to stay behind while Tony and those kids were in danger.
Gibbs turned his attention back to his two friends. Pashasha had already mounted her griffin and Tac was standing next his. He signaled Gibb to come over to where he was so he can help him up on the griffin. Once Gibbs was on the griffin Tac hopped up right behind him. Within seconds they were flying over the top of the trees and heading toward the mountains. At the speed they were going it shouldn't take them long to reached cave where the Sasquatches live.
High up inside the mountain…
The group of thieves had spent the last few hours going over their plans for the attack on the village in the morning. Everyone was all excited and couldn't wait. They eventually broke off in their own little groups to eat, drink and talk about old times.
Boldek stood there and observed his group. He wished he could be more like them but he wasn't. He hated waiting around and needed something to do to distract him. He looked around the room and notice one of the children were missing. He yelled to Shesha and asked her where the child was.
"I left him in the other room because he was too sick to help with the serving."
"I do not care if he is sick or not. Go get him and bring him here."
Shesha went to fetch the child. It didn't take her long to return with the boy. She forced the boy down on his knees in front of Boldek. She then headed back to her little group of friends to continue her conversation with them.
The nomad leader just stood there for a few seconds and stared at the boy. He hated humans because he considered them to be a very weak race of beings. The only reason he even went to Earth was to steal a few younglings. He knew he could trade them to get things he wanted. He did this for centuries.
As the nomad leader continued to look down at the child he could see the bruising left from where Shesha had hit him. He could also see dark circles starting to form under the boy's eyes. This human child was weak but he could still see the defiance look in those big green eyes. He wondered just how much more this little one could take. He looked at the entrance to the cave and could tell he had a lot of time on his hand. He turned his attention back to the boy. He decided he was going to occupy his time by seeing how much this boy could take.
He reached down and picked up his drink and handed it to the boy.
"You will drink this."
At the base of the mountian…
As soon as the griffins landed, Marqui hopped off his animal and signaled the others to follow him. They were going to have to travel the rest of the way by foot. Tac decided to carry Gibbs because there was no way the human boy would to be able to keep up with the rest of them.
It didn't take them long to reach the entrance to the cave. Once they were inside Gibbs was surprised to see it was very well lit. Instead of torches there were globes of lights every twenty feet or so. Marqui asked them to stay where they where while he went to find and talk with the leader of the Sasquatches.
While they were waiting both Pashasha and Gibbs could tell something was bothering Tac. Gibbs moved closer to his friend, "What is wrong?"
Tac shook his head, "I can sense Smiley's pain and fear. We need to get up there."
Before Gibbs could ask any other questions Marqui returned with three very tall Sasquatches. The tallest was covered with blond hair while the other two were different shades of brown hair. Marqui turned to introduce them, "This is Hania the leader and his two brothers Achak and Akecheta. They have agreed to help us rescue the children."
Tac spoke, "I am sorry to cut the introductions short but I can sense my child and he is in danger. We need to get up there now."
Gibbs was surprised when Hania turned around and said something in another language to his two brothers. The brothers nodded and then left.
The Sasquatch turned his attention back to his company and spoke in English; "We will get you all up there as quickly as possible. I sent my brothers to alert the others. They will have everything ready by the time we get there. Right now we need to hurry. We can talk later when we have time."
Hania then turned and started heading back toward the direction he came. It was a good thing Tac was carrying Gibbs because he found himself having trouble keeping up with the big guy.
As they traveled through the cave tunnel, every now and then they would come across a room. When Gibbs looked inside he was amazed to see equipment that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. It made him realize for the first time that humans are not the highest intelligent being living on Earth. He also couldn't help but think Abby would love this place and it's people if she every got to see it.
It didn't take them long to reach the center of the mountain. As they entered the area ahead they saw rows of what looked like elevators. Some were going up while others were coming down.
There was one elevator car waiting for them. Once they were inside, Hania turned around to face them, "We will have to take a total of twelve cars to the top. These cars will travel at a very fast rate up the mountain. We should arrive a little before dawn."
Tac was worried as he looked up the elevator's shaft. He continued to sense pain and fear coming from his child. He tried to contact Smiley to let him know they were coming but Smiley was in too much pain at the moment. Tac made a promise to himself that he was going to kill the bastard who was hurting his Smiley.
Hania pulled the lever and they started to ascend at a very high rate. The Sasquatch looked down at his passengers, "We have been aware of the strangers at the top of the mountain for a almost two days now. Several of my brothers have been watching them to make sure they did not find our tunnels. They have seen at least eleven human children with them."
Pashasha looked surprised, "Eleven? We were only aware of four children."
Tac looked at her, "They have either taken the rest from Earth or from the villages they have raided. Either way it doesn't matter we are going to rescue all the children."
Gibbs looked at Hania and had to ask, "Are the children okay?"
"I was told they are well except for one of them. He has dark coloring on his face and he was very sick last night."
Both Gibbs and Tac knew immediately which child it was. They could only hope they arrived there in time.
They spent the next few hours traveling in the elevator only stopping to take the next one up. The last elevator car finally came to a complete stop. The passengers disembark. They were going to have to walk the rest of the way up. The closer they got to their destination the more Tac could sense unbearable pain coming from his child. He put Gibbs down and started to head up to where he knew his Smiley was but Hania stopped him. "You are not the only one who can sense his pain. You cannot go to him right now. You have to stay here with us. If you go charging up there you could put the other children in danger including his."
Tac didn't look at him, he just kept staring in the direction he knew he child was.
Hania continued, "My brother has told me the rest of the children are sleeping in a separate room right now. We can go in there and get them first. After that…we will rescue your child and make sure the nomads will never hurt anyone again."
Tac just nodded because he knew it would be what Smiley would want. "Okay, let's get the children. After that, that bastard who is hurting my child is mine."
Hania just nodded.
When they finally arrived at their destination, they were only a few hundred feet from the opening to the cave room were the children were sleeping. Since they didn't want to scare the children to death, they decided to send the boy Gibbs in first. He was going to wake up each of the children and led them back to the group. Once they had them all Pashasha would take them down to the lower levels to safety. The rest would deal with the nomads.
When Gibbs entered the cave room he found the children sleeping next to each other. He was a little worried if he tried to wake up one child maybe another one would wake up and see him and start yelling. He was going to have to be very careful. The first child Gibbs woke up was a little girl. When she opened her eyes, he whispered to her that she was safe and to keep quiet and follow him. He took her back to where the others were waiting. He continued to do this until there were only two children left. When he went back into the room to get the last two children they were gone. He looked around the room but didn't see them. As he was heading back to warn the others, he felt someone grab him from behind and turn him around.
It was Shesha, "Who are you and where are the rest of the children?"
Gibbs just looked at her and didn't say a word. He knew he had been caught and he wasn't going to give anything away. She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the other room and ordered the two other children to follow her.
Once they were inside the other room, Gibbs was pushed down on his knees.
Bolded looked at her puzzled, "Where did this one come from?"
"I do not know. When I went in to check on the children only Pamphilus and
Galenus and this boy were in there. The others are gone."
Boldek looked at Gibbs and asked in anger, "I demand to know who you are?"
Gibbs didn't say anything because at that very moment he spotted Tony. The younger boy was lying on the ground in a fetal position not too far from him. Gibbs couldn't tell if Tony was alive or dead. He wanted to run to him but knew he couldn't.
Boldek turned his head to see what Gibbs was looking at. It was then he realized who the boy was and smiled. "Now…I know who you are. Where are your friends and my children?"
Boldek turned as he heard noises coming from behind him. He was surprised to see some very tall hairy looking creatures running into the cave room. He also saw three of his own kind entering with them. One of the males was heading his way. He picked Gibbs up and grabbed his head with one hand and yelled, "If you come near me and I will break your child's neck."
Gibbs tried to tell Tac to kill the bastard but he couldn't make a sound.
Tac immediately stopped in his tracks. He knew if he got any closer that bastard would kill Gibbs. He couldn't let that happen because like Tony, Gibbs meant a lot to him.
Boldek tried to keep his eyes on Tac as he quickly looked around the cave. He knew there was nothing he could do to help his people or them help him. They were too busy fighting for their lives. They were in no way a match for these tall creatures. These creatures were going to make sure none of them escape.
Boldek looked back at his adversary. "You will let me leave or I promise you I will kill this child just like I did with your other one."
Tac saw Smiley lying on the floor. He could sense his child was still alive but barely. He needed to get him help but he also needed to get Gibbs away from the nomad. Tac and Boldek were both at a standstill for the moment. Each waiting to see what the other one was going to do…